Thermal climate control is a technology that provides immense capabilities and benefits to the developed world. One example may be advancements in refrigeration or air conditioning. Refrigeration allows items that, under normal environmental conditions, would perish after a particular amount of time common to the item, to be preserved for longer periods of time than is common. For example, the expected useful life for items such as food, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., may be extended from refrigeration. With advancements in technology, refrigeration can now be placed or used in diverse locations or applications. One such application may include the use of reefer units on commercial trucks. These reefer units allow the trailer of a semi-truck to remain at a predetermined temperature for the entire duration of the truck's travel.
However, even in the developed world, refrigeration comes at great cost. The cost associated with the energy required to power refrigeration is often very high. Additionally, refrigeration units do not provide a one size fits all solution. For example, the reefer unit attached to a commercial semi-truck may not provide the best solution for storing food in a warehouse or grocery store. Therefore, these units are often tailored for a specific use to be most efficient for one specific use. This may increase the cost of individual units that need to be form fitted for a specific application. Furthermore, in remote locations or in developing countries, a perfectly tailored solution may not be readily attainable. In remote locations and in developing countries, it can be difficult to bring refrigeration units into these regions. Further, once the refrigeration unit is on site, the unit typically is used in a single application.
Thus, a solution is desired for a single heat transfer system/unit (i.e., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit, refrigeration unit, etc.) to be implemented in a variety of different applications. Additionally, it is desired that such a solution would allow users to easily configure the unit between different operating modes to accommodate the specific need.